Future Policy Award 2015 of the World Future Council, Finland won silver – in the future facing many challenges

Finland has won silver in Future Policy Award 2015 of the World Future Council. WFC is an independent non-profit organization with no interest in short-term profit or prestige, autonomous from governmental and institutional interests, and enjoys the highest level of credibility in its political advocacy. The World Future Council makes politicians aware they have an ethical responsibility to assess every decision-making process on the basis of how it will affect future generations.

Zanzibar’s pioneering child rights law is the winner of the 2015 Future Policy Award, silver was granted to Maryland, U.S. and to Finland. The Award was presented at a ceremony in Geneva, in 20th October 2015, by the World Future Council, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UNICEF during the 133rd IPU Assembly. Finland’s ‘Basic Education Act’, adopted in 1998 won the second Silver Award for guaranteeing children’s equal access to high-quality education and training, irrespective of ethnic origin, age, wealth, language or location.

Finland’s holistic and trust based education system produces excellent results, both in terms of child well-being and international test scores. In Finland education has been a national priority for over three decades, with the country developing a unique holistic approach that continues to evolve and has produced significant results; often being hailed as a world-class education system. Recent reforms aim to further develop schools as learning communities, emphasizing the joy of learning and a collaborative atmosphere, as well as promoting student autonomy in studying and in school life.

The silver Award granted to Finland was received by the Counsellor for Education, Mrs. Irmeli Halinen. In her speak Mrs. Halinen underlined the child-centeredness of the Basic Education Act. In Finland, school administration and the school work is based on trust and support, avoiding comparison, competition and control. This Act is humane and takes care of children benefits. As well the new Core Curriculum based on the Basic Education. Each student is unique and valuable just as she/he is.

We, the incluD-ed Network and Kynnys, are pleased to congratulate Finland and other top performers for their achievement. However, it isn’t easy for Finland to promote inclusive education. The Basic Education Act emphasizes the neighborhood school principle, but schools have opportunities to separate students with special needs within the school or send them to another school. Many teachers have negative attitudes against inclusive education, and for insufficient resources. They feel their need in-service training to update their knowledge. Teacher education needs to be updated, and school facilities are often not barrier-free. On the other hand the Finnish Government has the objective to get from education, science and culture next year savings of about EUR 180 million, and about 560 EUR million until 2020. On the other hand the Government’s has priority to invest EUR 300 million during next three years, for example, on new learning environments and digital materials to comprehensive school and for teacher training.

Reduced investments on education can increase inequality. According to some research both schools and districts are already diverging students by their social background and learning outcomes. Highly educated, upper-middle-class children seek for better comprehensive schools, where they can learn special subjects and learn subjects more than normally (weighted-curriculum teaching), mainly in large schools. Differences between schools are growing and some schools can accumulate a lot of students with special needs. PISA assessments have signaled that proficiency of Finnish youth is declining. 2012 Finland came in sixth place among the OECD countries in mathematics, third in literacy and second in science. Finland remains the best in literacy and science among the European countries, but national average in mathematics has fallen by 25 points since 2003, which corresponds to over six months’ school year progress. In terms of the top tier countries in the 2003 study, Finland’s average score has decreased the most. Finnish inclusive education and educational field altogether has many challenges.

The “Children’s Act” in Zanzibar was awarded for its effective response to child abuse and violence and for its promotion and protection of child rights that have led to a marked societal change in attitudes towards children in Zanzibar. Many schools are now piloting alternatives to the previously widespread use of corporal punishment and thousands of children have been assisted in returning to school from harmful work. The state of Maryland in the US was recognized with Silver Award for becoming the first to require students to be environmentally literate as a high school graduation requirement. Maryland was the first US state to make environmental education obligatory for high-school students.